90 A NEW THEORY OF EVOLUTION. 



character of his work, it may be fairly 

 assumed that no example of the kind is 

 known. 



It may be argued that the Australian 

 struggle is a very extreme case, but, if the 

 struggle for existence is a stimulus to bene- 

 ficial variation, it might be expected that the 

 more severe the struggle the greater the 

 stimulus would be, or that at least some 

 evidence of a tendency thereto would be 

 disclosed. The magnitude of the result in 

 Australia only makes more conspicuous the 

 absurdity of the contention, that any bene- 

 ficial variation can come from the struggle 

 for existence. 



We can now clearly recognise that the real 

 function of the struggle for existence is to 

 eliminate the unfit, and thereby to limit de- 

 gradation of type, as, on the other hand, 

 sterility and precocity limit development. 



Natural selection the name given by 

 Darwin to the outcome of the struggle for 

 existence does not select in the ordinary 

 acceptation of the term. If it does select, it 

 selects for death and not for life, and although 

 survivors in the struggle may benefit by the 

 competition for food becoming less severe, 



